Perhaps I haven't been paying attention lately but I was looking through my local newspaper this morning and saw an ad for craft beer in my favorite nearby liquor store. They listed the price of a New Belgium Fat Tire 12-pack in glass bottles for $12.99. Right below that listing they also printed the price of a 12-pack of New Belgium Fat Tire beer in cans. The price? $13.99. What gives?!
Rant on.
For years, a few well known craft brewers in this state have been touting the advantages of putting their craft beer in cans. They claimed that cans are more portable, cans are better for the environment and they weigh much less than bottles so the distribution costs would be lower. But in reality, certain stores are charging more for the same beer in cans. Ecksqueeze me?
I don't get it. Why would we be charged an extra $1 per 12-pack for the same amount of beer? Aren't cans supposed to be more compact than bottles? Aren't cans supposed to be cheaper to distribute than glass bottles? Can't liquor store owners fit more beer in a cooler in cans than they could with bottles? Given a choice wouldn't more people prefer cans over bottles?
So why is it that some liquor stores are now charging more for a 12-pack of craft beer in cans? Perhaps it was a major typo in the newspaper ad. I don't think so. I'd hate to think that we are paying more for what liquor store owners believe is a novelty. This stinks in my opinion. It counteracts the whole reason for going to cans in the first place.
To quote a famous movie (Network): "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more!"
Does this tick off any of you as it does me? Which do you prefer your beer in? Would you knowingly pay an extra buck for a 12-pack in cans if you could grab the same beer in bottles for less?
Tell me if I'm missing the point here but if the trend here is to charge more for cans I'm not sure I want to buy my craft beer in cans in the future. Come on brewers and store owners. Charge the same for the same quantity. I'm not willing to pay more just because of smaller lighter weight packaging. Get real.
Rant off.
Related articles:
- More Colorado craft beers heading to cans
- New Belgium to package Fat Tire in cans (Mar '08)
- Oskar Blues celebrates 6 years of canning
This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com
Help us grow. Forward this article to a friend and have them subscribe here
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Craft beer in cans more expensive than bottles?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Its cheaper to package in cans there's less labor (you don't need a labeler operator) ,there's less breakage and you can run your line faster even with a manual filler .
I think its a bottle store trying to put it on and they probably buy less cans than bottles of craft beer so they get less of a bulk buy discount on the product .
I was planning on buying the Fat Tire cans for a Tiki party I'm throwing (for the non-tiki drink enthusiasts) but won't be buying them if they're more than the longnecks!
I can't fathom why they would cost more! Novelty factor? I dunno. I'm going to check a couple different liquor stores to see if everyone is charging the same price for them.
If any of you find a difference in price between the bottles and cans please let me know. The ad I found may have been just one particular store here in Greeley, CO. But if it's a trend seen in many places then I think we should expand this inquiry further. I put in a query to the New Belgium folks directly. I'll post what they respond with.
I would not pay more for cans unless there was a reason I couldn't have bottles (no glass park/event, etc). It doesn't make sense that cans would cost more anyway. I'll check prices at my local store tomorrow because now I'm curious.
In Durango, Ska cans and bottles are the same price. Steamworks cans are about $1 cheaper per six-pack than its bottles.
Some things are so outrageous that you have to do a double take. I bet that that's not a typo. Cans and bottles of Fat Tire are the same price at Bev Mo here in Cali. $14.99 for 12 ($12.99 with a "no extra cost" bev mo card).
Update: New Belgium Brewery tells me they sell bottles and cans for the same price. So apparently some stores believe they can make a profit out of a growing trend.
Perhaps the outlet realizes that some folks would be willing to pay extra for cans in the event they plan to pack them in someplace were carrying bottles would be difficult or impossible. Canned beer isn't a novelty if you truly need canned beer. Just a thought (from a guy who once got where he was going, only to find the cooler full of broken beer bottles).
Simply put, if you find your local store charging more for cans than bottles then ask them directly what's going on. There should be no difference in the price. I simply won't buy from a store that tries to gouge their customers for cans.
Post a Comment